Film Forum in NYC tonight hosts the US premiere of "Elvira Notari: Beyond Silence", a documentary about the prolific Neapolitan director whose career was derailed in 1930. Here's my article on her. tinyurl.com/fjtrtnw5

"The Secret Agent" reminded me of "Close Your Eyes" and "One Battle After Another" more than "I'm Still Here". I reviewed it for The Arts Desk. tinyurl.com/7pfdz7sh

Director Kristen Stewart's powerful first feature reviewed. tinyurl.com/4dcc75n9

For the new issue of Cineaste magazine, I've written an essay on how John Ford's celebrated Cavalry Trilogy invoked the Frontier Myth as a historical metaphor for national unity during the Cold War. These Westerns' justifying of "dirty tricks" to defeat Communism is a real eye-opener.

My top 10 films (UK) of 2025, not in order. Wishing everyone a safe and peaceful 2026. April The Ice Tower I’m Still Here It Was Just an Accident Misericordia One Battle After Another On Falling A Real Pain Sentimental Value Train Dreams

Jafar Panahi's shattering new film "It Was Just an Accident" led to his third imprisonment by Iran's authoritarian regime on Monday. I reviewed it for The Arts Desk. tinyurl.com/yc4y54hd

Chill with Lucile Hadžihalilović’s mesmerising "The Ice Tower". shorturl.at/L4lBu

"One Battle After Another" is Paul Thomas Anderson's timeliest film yet. tinyurl.com/4mdxbf3m

Shoegazers of the World Unite: NewDad's NewDisc is an angsty dream-pop delight. theartsdesk.com/new-music/al...

I wrote an essay on Werner Herzog's "Aguirre, Wrath of God," newly released on a BFI 4K UHD and BFI Blu-ray. It's much more than a fever dream. www.bfi.org.uk/.../aguirre-....

The updated edition of my book of interviews with Ken Loach is published by Faber tomorrow. Adding to our earlier discussions of Loach's work from 1963 to 1998, it covers the 18 films he made from "My Name Is Joe" to "The Old Oak". Formidable.

Depicting Corsican mob vendettas from a teenage girl's perspective, "The Kingdom" is one of the best films of the year. It's just opened in the UK.

In Rebecca Lenkiewicz's thorny directorial debut, Sofia (Emma Mackey) must deal with her mother and her lover's buried traumas as they're gradually disinterred. What's a woman to do?

Daisy-May Hudson's "Lollipop" depicts the struggle of a homeless single mother to regain custody of her kids - featuring a gut-wrenching performance by Posy Sterling, the film is socially depleted modern Britain in a nutshell.

India Donaldson's exceptional indie drama "Good One" opens in the UK today. "Deliverance" for modern times?

Nick Mason's Saucerful of Secrets and Steven Wilson have breathed new life into Pink Floyd's "Echoes". I wrote an essay on it for The Arts Desk.

To the artist in the apartment above ours who thumps things loudly and repetitively after midnight, I dedicate this review of the new movie "Restless."

"Queerer and queerer," said Alice, anticipating the release of Alain Guiraudie's hilarious new morality-buster "Misericordia."

Music and poetry can make uneasy bedfellows – a rare exception being composer Jim Parker's collaborations with John Betjeman. Here's another – Bryan Ferry and writer-artist Amelia Barratt's evocative "Loose Talk" LP, which I reviewed for The Arts Desk.

I do love a sweeping prog rock concept album. Steven Wilson's "The Overview", which I reviewed for The Arts Desk, is a glorious one - that's if you don't mind it auguring the end of everything that exists in the universe.

Laura Carreira's chilling debut feature "On Falling" exposes the mind-crushing misery of gig economy work in a Scottish "fulfilment center" – it's close to a horror movie.

My detailed look at Jesse Eisenberg's "A Real Pain," published online at Cineaste. www.cineaste.com/spring2025/a...

Hitchcock, the young tormentor.

"The Lord of the Rings" franchise goes for girl power - exploitatively.

Hugo Fregonese's film noir "Black Tuesday" (1954), newly released on a UK Blu-ray, is fatalism incarnate.

In terms of marrying marrying emotions to compositions, "Bird' is Andrea Arnold's most dynamic film yet. I'd love to see it on a double bill with "American Honey".

"Blitz' suffers from being a child's adventure story. I wonder if McQueen was influenced by Spielberg's "Empire of the Sun".